Dead Animals
by sasha1600
Summary: Just another normal morning in the McGee household. Set in the Future Perfect universe.


**Dead Animals**

**Summary:** Just another normal morning in the McGee household. Set in the Future Perfect universe.

**Disclaimer:** Katie and Leigh are mine; the rest belong to other people.

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A/N: This is set in the 'Future Perfect' universe, which features Caitlyn and Leigh, the twin daughters of Tim and Abby. It takes place the morning after draggon-flye's story Temper, Temper. Read that first to understand Tim's level of exasperation here.

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Caitlyn McGee bounced down the stairs, her long hair tightly braided and her school uniform neatly ironed. She grabbed her lunch bag from the table in the front hall and crammed it into her backpack, called out a goodbye to her father, and headed for the front door. She wasn't quite quick enough, however, and Tim appeared in the kitchen doorway just in time to see her stepping onto the front porch.

Barefoot.

'Katie!'

She briefly considered ignoring him, but she hesitated for a second too long and it was too obvious that she'd heard him. Slowly, she turned to face her confused father, trying to look as if she had no idea why he'd called her back.

'Why aren't you wearing any shoes?'

'I told you at breakfast, Daddy! I'm vegan now.'

Tim sighed, not wanting to rehash the argument. Leigh had gleefully helped herself to the bacon her sister refused to eat, cereal had been rejected because it involved milk, and a heated battle had erupted over the toast when Kate had discovered the allergy warning on the bread bag identifying possible trace amounts of milk or egg in the product. He'd decided not to challenge her on her sudden decision to become vegan, at least not until he'd had a chance to talk to Palmer about the possible health effects for a growing teenager… and until Abby got back from her conference and could provide back-up! But Tim had thought his position, that being manufactured on shared equipment shouldn't disqualify the bread from his daughter's new diet, had been perfectly reasonable. Finally, he'd given in and let her just eat a banana liberally spread with peanut butter, and had packed a salad for her lunch. She wouldn't starve to death in one day, and he'd figure out better options for tomorrow. And maybe being hungry halfway through class would encourage her to make this a short-lived experiment.

'Ok, you're vegan. What does that have to do with why you aren't wearing shoes?'

'I don't have any shoes to wear.'

'What? You have lots…'

'All my _old_ shoes are _leather_, Daddy! I can't wear dead animals on my feet now!'

Tim closed his eyes and counted silently to ten. He was determined not to let Kate see that he thought she was being ridiculous. He knew lots of committed vegetarians, and he'd always encouraged his children to stand up for things that they thought were important. But why did it have to be so damn inconvenient… when he was already late for work, and Abby was out of town?

Hoping he looked calmer than he felt, he opened the closet and rummaged through the inordinate number of shoes that the three female members of his family had collected. He grabbed a pair of Leigh's canvas sneakers and thrust them at her.

'Here. Wear these for today.'

'No.'

'Kate…'

'They don't meet the dress code.'

'Neither do bare feet!'

'And the soles are _plastic_, Daddy! Do you have _any_ idea how bad that is for the environment?!'

Tim felt his patience wearing thin. Just then, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the display. Seeing one of his agents' names, he flipped it open. A minute later, a dead sailor waiting for his attention, he grabbed the nearest pair of shoes and held them out to Kate. She crossed her arms and refused to take them from him.

'No animals are going to get any deader if you wear the same shoes you did yesterday. We can go shopping tonight.'

'But…'

'Just put the damn things on!'

The uncharacteristic outburst shocked Kate into compliance.

Tim watched her hurry off to catch her bus. He briefly wondered if he should warn Gibbs that he might end up being called to pick up one of the twins from school, for the second day in a row. He didn't think that Kate would translate her annoyance into a classroom tantrum the way Leigh had done, but he was finding both his daughters increasingly unpredictable.

Instead, he hit the speed-dial button to call his wife.

'Hi! How are…'

'Abby, please don't go to any more conferences! At least, not until the girls are in college!'


End file.
